Decision Time
by LilyGhost
Summary: When Ranger hears that a new man may be entering Stephanie's life, he takes action and ensures that he's the only man she will ever want. A Ranger POV story.
1. Chapter 1

**All familiar characters belong to Janet. As always, the mistakes are mine alone. **

"Looks like you're shit out of luck, too," Morelli said to me.

"I'm busy," I told him, ignoring the prick as I usually do.

"What? You don't care that Stephanie may be sleeping with someone other than the two of us?"

My head whipped around.

"Yeah, I know she slept with you at some point," he continued. "I didn't want to believe it, but I didn't become a detective by ignoring clues."

"What do you want?" I asked, with a bite to my tone.

I'm not giving him the satisfaction of knowing how much my body is rebelling in response to his question regarding Stephanie. I've had a hard enough time not ripping Morelli's face off for daring to touch her, and I know it isn't going to be pretty if I find out there's someone else now interested in her.

"Since you enjoyed sticking your nose and _other parts_," he said, looking in the general vicinity of my belt buckle, "into my relationship with her ..."

"You're not sleeping with her anymore, and you are no longer in a relationship with her," I pointed out in case he forgot. "I seem to remember that she dumped you."

"She says she wants out every other week, but she _always _comes back to me."

"Did she this time?"

He didn't answer, deciding to try to piss me off instead. "Did she come to _you_?"

She hasn't yet. I haven't seen her at all this week, and the separation is getting to me.

"I'm taking that blank stare to mean that she didn't hop into your bed right after leaving mine."

I took a step forward and raised my fist in case I have to smash it into his mouth.

"You say anything disrespectful about - or to - her again and I will make you regret every word of it."

The asshole looked pleased with himself. "You have someone new to threaten now. Steph's got a date tonight ... and it's not with me _or _you."

"Who is it?" I asked him, needing a name so I can arrange a meeting and a potential 'accident'.

Her loving both Joe and I had been complicated enough, and all three of us had added fuck ups to the situation, but there's no way in hell someone new is entering the picture now that Morelli is finally the fuck out of it.

Joe gave me a shit-eating grin. "You're always saying that you know _everything_, so you should be able to get a name from someone, but it won't be me. I don't have to go after anyone. Steph will be back when she's sick of your shit and decides it's time to grow up and settle down."

And he walked off, leaving me seething. Payback is a bitch, and he'll be seeing plenty of it once I get rid of Stephanie's 'date'. The only one allowed to kiss, hold, and fuck her, is me. And she, and whoever this new asshole is, will be finding that out.

I got to her apartment in less time than it should have taken, and I made quick work of all her locks. She wasn't home when I entered, but I have no intention of leaving just yet. Before driving here, I had put in a call to the control room. Ram informed me that Steph had just left the bonds office alone and looked to be on her way home.

I sat down on the chair in her living room, with one leg stretched out, both elbows on the arms of the chair, and my fingertips steepled together against my lips. I had to fight to keep my anger in check. I'm the master of control, but it's slipping today.

Steph walked in fifteen minutes later, and she came to an abrupt halt when she spotted me.

"Okay, I know I didn't blow up any guys, cars, or buildings, while I was out, so what are you pissed about?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest, a definite defensive move on her part.

I slowly got to my feet, and I noted the retreating steps she took towards the kitchen as I advanced on her.

"What makes you think I'm pissed?" I asked her, stopping less than a foot away from her.

Her body is now between me and the kitchen island. She has no escape, but she hasn't realize that yet.

She swallowed nervously and cut her eyes to the front door. I moved closer so she'd see she has no way out. I saw her chest expand as she took a deep breath. She then answered me.

"You're practically crackling with anger, Ranger. I felt it when I walked in. I haven't done anything to tick you off since I haven't seen you or the guys lately. What's going on?"

"You don't think agreeing to a date with another guy would piss me off?"

That made her pause. Her eyes opened fractionally wider as she figured out what I'm referring to. But instead of telling me the soon-to-be-dead fucker's name, she fired back at me with both barrels.

"If I _did _have a date, why would it bother you? You keep saying that you don't want a serious anything with me, so clearly I'd have to look elsewhere for a serious relationship if that's what I really want."

"Who is he?" I asked.

"So you're going to focus on the guy instead of on me?"

"I assure you, Stephanie, I am entirely focused on you right now."

"Then tell me why you care what I do," she continued.

"I care about everything you do because I love you."

I say something similar almost every time I see her.

"What kind of love are we talking about here? You love me as a friend? As a friend who comes with a few benefits? As a woman ..."

"I see you as a woman I don't want _any _man except me putting his hands on," I told her, doing just that.

I grabbed her waist and pulled her flush against the front of my body.

"So this reaction is a jealousy thing?" She asked me. "You think someone is going to touch what's yours and you don't like it?"

"Yes, but I also don't like the idea of you wanting someone other than me. You love me. You don't need anyone else."

"You're right, I _don't _need - or want - anyone except you, but you have to give me more than you have been. Alley kisses, distraction job hook ups, and random three second phone calls, were okay when we were figuring out what to do now that Joe's not standing between us anymore, but things have to change because _I've _changed."

I cupped her face in my hands and looked into her eyes. She appears to have made a few decisions since I last saw her. If I don't man up, she'll find another man. Simple as that. If I went this crazy over just the _thought _of one date, her being in a relationship with someone new and me having unlimited weapons at my disposal will be a deadly combination.

"You have it," I told her.

"Have what?" She asked, suspicion clear in her question.

"_Me _... you have me." And I kissed her.

I took my time, stroking her lips with my tongue before sliding past them into her mouth, making damn sure her body felt boneless before I lifted my head slightly away from hers.

"Call it off," I ordered her.

"Huh?" She asked, her thinking obviously clouded from the kiss we just shared.

"_The date_, Babe. Cancel it or I _will _kill him. It seems I've also changed recently. And _I don't share_."

It took a second, but the smile that followed her confused look was a very satisfied one. I didn't trust it. And for good reason.

"There is _no _date," she told me, hooking her fingers into the front pockets of my cargo pants so I couldn't move away from her.

"Morelli took great pleasure in telling me all about it."

"_Jerk_," she said under her breath, and I know he'll soon be getting a phone call and his ass chewed out for butting into her business.

"He was screwing with me?" I asked.

She sighed. "Sort of. My mother _was _trying to fix me up with the son of a woman she went to school with. I said no, but I found out from Grandma that she was going to trick me into meeting him tonight at dinner. Now she'll get to entertain him herself. I never agreed to a date with him. And I definitely didn't want to go on one."

"Why not?"

I spilled my guts and she isn't getting out of this without doing the same.

"The only guy I'm interested in seeing naked on a daily basis is you."

"You only want me if I'm naked?"

"While you _do _look good wearing nothing at all, I even want to be around you when you're fully clothed and being an ass like you were today. Had you just asked me out on a date yourself, we could have skipped all the chest-thumping."

She just handed me the opening I need. "Will you have dinner with me tonight?" I asked her.

She tipped her head to the side and studied my face, looking for any sign that I'm kidding or making fun of her. I've never been more serious.

"You mean it? We would be going out on an _actual _date, to a restaurant surrounded by other couples doing the same."

"Yes. Preferably a restaurant in the Burg so your mother and everyone else will know that there will be _no _dates for you other than the ones I take you on."

Her lips curved up in pleasure and I immediately got hard. It took considerable effort, but I managed to will my dick to back off while promising it that we'll be putting that same smile back on her face later on tonight.

"I can be ready in twenty minutes," she said, already turning towards the hall leading to her bedroom.

I pulled her back to me for another kiss before letting her go. "Make it _ten_."


	2. Chapter 2

**Everybody and everything familiar belongs to Janet. The mistakes are mine. **

**Chapter 2**

Steph turned around before she'd made it all the way to her bedroom. She came back down the hall and faced me.

"You know, now that I think about it, maybe we need to do something before our date."

"Like?"

"No one knows about us yet, right?"

"No. I came straight here from the station. If Tank had hair, he'd likely be pulling it out now."

"I really feel for that guy sometimes. First he gets stuck watching me, and then he had to endure a semi-engagement to Lula, now he's got you bailing on him."

"He'll survive. Now ... what are you planning that you think is more important than having dinner with me?"

"Jeez. We've only been a couple for ten minutes, and you're already playing the 'neglected boyfriend' card?"

"No. I'm just curious what's going on in that curly haired-head of yours."

"I think I 'owe' Joe a phone call. I also think making it _before _he hears that we're together will be more ... _considerate_."

"Would you be calling to sardonically _thank _him for getting us together? Or are you going to completely bitch him out?"

"What do you think?" She asked.

That works for me. She took my hand and tugged me towards the couch. She paused before we reached it so she could track down her cell.

"You sure you want to talk to him?" I asked her, after she'd located it in her bag, which she'd abandoned in her foyer when she first saw me in her apartment.

She came back to sit against me on her beat-up couch. "_Oh, yeah_. He deserves it for using me to try to hurt you."

"As much as I'd like to blame Morelli for being an asshole, Babe, I'm the one who stayed away from you when I shouldn't have."

A little bit of revenge seeped out of her. "Yeah, and _I'm _the idiot who let you."

We both created the distance between us ... too stubborn, scared, or stupid, to end it once and for all. I don't believe in this shit usually, but it does seem like fate stepped in when neither of us stepped up. The triangle we had been trapped in has been disassembled by the prick who used to head it. In the past, Steph and I couldn't be together due to the cop, yet here we are, finally something more than just a wish, because of Morelli's big fucking mouth.

"You still want to call him?" I asked her.

"Yes. Maybe I _should _thank him for being a dickhead, but not before he gets it for trying to control my life yet again."

She put her cell on speaker and hit the number I'll be deleting once she's through here.

"Hi, Joe," she said, when he picked up on the second ring.

I can easily picture the smirk that split his face when he saw it was Stephanie calling him. She kept her tone even and her emotions contained so she wouldn't give away her reason for calling.

"Hey, Cupcake. I had a feeling I'd be hearing from you."

Of course he did. It would never occur to him that she'd be too busy making love to me tonight to even think about him, which she _will _be doing - and continue to do every night - from this one on if I don't fuck things up.

"There's someone who wants to say 'Hi' to you ... hold on."

"Morelli," I said flatly.

"_Manoso?_"

_His_ voice was anything but flat. It was laced with confusion and more than a little anger. Guess his 'cop brain' kicked in and he realized that his spite-plan backfired on him. He never allowed himself to believe that if I _did _go after Stephanie with the intention of keeping her, he'd lose her forever. He shot himself not only in the foot this time, but in the groin as well, because his dick will never be coming near her again without me removing it.

"Yeah, it's Ranger," Steph told him. "He showed up at my apartment and we had a very interesting conversation. I'd ask if you want to know what it was about, but since you caused it, I'm sure you already guessed the topic."

"Cupcake ..."

She cut him off. "Don't even think about '_Cupcaking_' me. Did you or did you not purposely try to tick Ranger off by telling him I'm seeing someone?"

"You _did _have a date for tonight, am I wrong?" He asked.

"As usual, you're _dead _wrong. You need a new source for Burg information. Your mom didn't get all the facts. My mother_ assumed _I'd be on a date tonight. I, on the other hand, never agreed to one. If you were so interested in my plans, you should've talked to _me _instead of Ranger about them."

"Speaking of him ..."

"He's still here," she told him.

"And I'm never leaving," I added.

I could hear his teeth grind together. He didn't say anything for a few seconds.

"So ... _I _get shit dumped on me and Manoso comes out of this smelling like a fucking rose?" He asked.

"It's about time you finally get at least _one _thing straight," I told him. "And watch your mouth."

"Stop it," Steph told us. "We're not doing this anymore. Joe, we're broken up ... so what I do and who I see isn't any of your business. You lost the right to discuss my personal life with anyone when you stopped being part of it."

"I know."

"Do you?" She asked him.

He sighed. "I guess not. When I saw Manoso at the station five minutes after my mother called ..."

"You just couldn't help yourself?" She supplied.

Silence. He knows he did it solely to start something, either between him and I or himself and Stephanie. If he can't have her in the physical sense, he's going to try to remain in her life another way.

"He figured he'd use me to get you to speak to him again," I explained to her. "He knew I'd tell you what he said, and you in turn would speak to him."

"I guess your plan worked then," she said to Joe.

"Not the way I wanted it to if he's still with you."

Here's where I want _no _misunderstandings. "I _am _with Stephanie now, so if you approach her for anything other than to say you received a police report, you'll be seeing me five minutes later. And I'll warn you now ... if that happens, I won't be as nice as I was earlier."

Steph cut her eyes to me. "_You _were nice?"

I shrugged. "Depends on your definition of the word."

"Steph," Joe broke in, "think this through. He doesn't want a relationship, a family, or to be tied down, you've always said that."

"That's where _I _was wrong. He _does_ want to be with me, despite all the annoyances he's had to wade through to convince me that we can do a relationship if it's with each other."

"Now I'm firmly entrenched in one," I informed him. "It would've happened eventually, but you accelerated the timing of it."

Steph's eyes held mine as she spoke. "Joe ...?"

"Yeah?" He asked, wariness lacing his tone.

"Thank you for being such a dick," she told him before disconnecting.

Her apartment was suddenly as silent as Morelli had been.

"You had to thank him?" I asked her, after a few beats as I pulled her close.

"No, but it'll twist the knife more to know that he played a part in bringing us together while cutting himself completely out of the picture."

She has a point. I dragged her onto my lap, curled my hand along the nape of her head, and fitted my mouth tightly to hers. She sighed against it and wound her arms around my neck, kissing me back just as hard.

My body wanted in on the action, but Steph drew her head back. "_You're _already restaurant-ready," she said, "but I still need to change."

Looks like my dick will have to wait at least an hour or two to lay claim to what's always been mine ... just not officially until today.

"You look beautiful, Babe."

She gave me a not-so-beautiful snort. "_Nooo_, I look like I've been chasing after someone who tried really hard not to be found today. And then I spent an hour arguing with two hard-headed men, one of them I really just wanted to hug, while the other I'd have liked to strangle. I need more mascara, a dress, and some sexy shoes."

The dress and heels sound good ... easier access without pants and four-inch stilettos will put her even with my dick when she's pressed up to me. That thought is what made me let her go when she went to move.

"So you're up for dinner now?" I asked.

"Sorta. What would you say to having a later dinner so we can stop by my parents' house first?" She asked me.

"We haven't even managed to get our first date officially started, and you're ready to take me home to meet your parents?"

"Very funny. You know my family more than anyone really wants to. So ... how about seeing them tonight?"

"No."

Not only do I view 'family dinners' as a society-accepted form of torture, I don't want to give up any time I could have alone with Stephanie.

"Let me ask that again," she said. "Would you like to help me make my mom pay for trying to hook me up with a guy who isn't _you_?"

As I've said to my men numerous times, obtaining the correct answer - or information you're after - is all in how you phrase your questions.

"Yes."

She smiled. "Thank you. It'll be fun to grill her on her 'date' for once. Then we can finally have ours wherever you want afterwards."

She leaned in and I met her halfway. The kiss was even better than our last one, and it was over long before I wanted it to be.

"Okay, _now _I'll get busy changing. I'll be right back."

I waited three seconds before I followed her into the bedroom. I stretched out on her bed, arms behind my head on the pillow, boots crossed. I watched her get ready to knock Helen off her high horse and into all the shit she's spewed.

Steph was about to walk into the bathroom with her chosen outfit when my voice stopped her.

"I've seen you naked many times, Babe. You don't have to leave the room on my account."

"You _would _enjoy a striptease, wouldn't you?"

"If you're offering."

"I'm not." And she shut the bathroom door between us.

I know I should be patient with her, but taking things slow has never been an option for me where she's concerned. I spent the thirteen minutes it took her to get ready, picturing what we'll be doing in this bed, or mine, when we get back from our date. I'll go as slow as she needs me to, but there's no way in hell she's sleeping alone tonight.

When she stepped out of the bathroom, my immediate thought was _fuck patience_. The only skin she'd left showing are her arms and three-quarters of her legs, but the way the high-necked, sleeveless, black dress conformed to her breasts and hips made it sexier than I think she'd intended.

"I'm all set," she told me.

"You didn't need to change, but now I'm glad you insisted on it," I said, standing up.

"Why?" She asked.

I would say she honestly doesn't know how incredible she looks ... with her hair up off her neck and her lips now a very tempting red color, but I'm close enough to her to see a teasing glint in her eyes.

"Now I'll be thinking of how I'm going to peel this dress off of you instead of listening to your mother explain why she's been playing God with your life again."

"She does have an unhealthy God complex, doesn't she?" She reached out and stroked my jaw. "And _you _have an unhealthy need to get me naked."

"Trust me when I say that my needs are _extremely healthy_, Babe."

I turned my head and pressed a kiss into her palm. Her lips parted when I made contact and I knew we'd have to get out of her bedroom or she'll be spread out under me in less than a second if she continued to look at me like that.

"We'd better leave soon if you want to catch your mother in the middle of dinner," I told her, even though leaving is the last thing either of us want to do at the moment.

"Yeah, I'm betting this meal won't be a long one."

I followed her out and waited patiently in her foyer while she grabbed her bag and dug her keys out of it. I took them away from her and locked her door before escorting her out to my Cayenne. Her body was vibrating with energy during the five minute drive from her apartment to the Burg.

"You okay?" I asked her, as I pulled up to the curb in front of her parents' place and saw an unfamiliar white sedan parked behind her father's Buick.

"Yes. I just got mad all over again."

"Channel that anger into a productive discussion so she'll know never to fuck with your life again."

"That's the goal. Let's see if I can actually accomplish it. Then maybe we'll be able to celebrate a victory afterwards."

If Steph can't convince Helen to back off, I'll have a word with the woman myself when Stephanie isn't there to have to hear it. I protect what's mine and I won't tolerate other men being dangled in front of her.

I slid out from behind the wheel and walked around to the passenger's side. She never sits still long enough for me to get her door for her, but I still make an attempt every time. I stayed close to her as we walked up the sidewalk to the small front porch. Steph didn't bother knocking. She laced her fingers through mine and we stepped into the Plum residence together. Everyone was sitting at the dining room table. Dinner had been served, but looked to be untouched.

Edna's sporting a mischievous smile on her face. Frank appeared clueless as to why a total stranger is sitting at his table right beside a noticeably vacant seat. And Helen had a tall glass of 'ice tea', that I'd guess is 90 proof, forming a ring of condensation on a coaster beside her half-empty wine glass. She's clearly upset but is trying to hide it behind what Steph calls her 'Burg bullshit'.

Then my attention was focused solely on Steph's supposed date. I'd put him in his early forties. His thin and anemic-looking hair had been carefully combed in an attempt to disguise a receding hairline, and his middle-age spread has already hit peak spread. If he came from old money, Connie could be interested in him, but Stephanie would kill this idiot inside an hour.

How her own mother believed _this _guy could satisfy her daughter is a mystery. Stephanie needs someone who will support her completely, challenge her daily, and love her well into the night, _every_ night. This fucker wouldn't even be able to keep Edna entertained, never mind a woman like Steph. The fact that he showed up here tonight willing to try, didn't please me at all. My arm automatically went around _my _woman, a clear warning to everyone in the room that she's taken, and if they decide to encroach, they will be taken out.

"Hi, everyone," Steph said, covering the hand I had resting on her hip with one of her own. "Got room for one more?" She pointed at the guy who suddenly looked ready to piss himself. "Oh wait, I see _my _date's seat has already been filled. Guess I'll have to go find food elsewhere."

"You're late. You know dinner is always at six," Helen said to her. She gave me a dismissive glance. "It was nice of you to drop her off."

"I'm not dropping Stephanie off. When I go, she's coming with me. She had something to say to you before we head out."

Edna winked at me, already guessing what's about to be said. As much as she frightens me, I can't _not _appreciate her. Not only does she make Helen's life hell, Edna's the one who has always been there for Stephanie, so her all eccentricities and inappropriate remarks can be tolerated ... from a distance.

"You're leaving?" Helen asked her daughter. "I thought ...?"

"You thought what?" She said back. "That you'd trick me into a date with ...?"

"Eliot Beeker," her almost dead 'date' supplied.

"_Eliot_," she finished. "Nice to meet you, by the way. I'm Stephanie. This is my angry, bodyguard boyfriend, Ranger. And if any of this is making you uncomfortable ... _now _would be the time to leave."

The chair tipped over in his haste to get out of the line of fire. Another reason he wouldn't be a match for _my _Babe. If Stephanie needs backup, _nothing _would make me move from her side. Grandma Mazur looked almost as disappointed in his quick retreat as I was.

"This is just starting to get good," Edna said to the table. "Why would anyone take off now like their tail feathers caught fire?"

"We aren't going to be far behind him," Steph told her. "Ranger and I have plans."

Helen took another healthy swallow of 'tea', seeming put out by that information, but will pull out her own tongue before she'd admit that her matchmaking attempt and abandoned dinner are disasters.

"You two can stay," she finally said, "so we can discuss this 'boyfriend' business. I made a nice beef stew and there is chocolate cake for dessert."

"No way. There isn't enough cake in the world to get me to stay longer than it takes to tell you that I won't be coming over for anymore dinners. Starting tonight and ending ... well, I don't see it ending because I don't believe you'll promise never to pull something like this again and actually mean it."

"You can eat at Rangeman anytime, day or night, Babe. Ella will be happy to accommodate you."

"What's going on?" Frank asked more confused than ever, so much so ... the chunk of beef and stewed potato he'd stabbed when we walked in was still on the fork hovering above his plate.

"Mom tried to set me up with someone right after I purposely told her not to even _think _about pimping me out again," Steph explained.

"I was wondering why the yahoo was here."

"Apparently, his name's Eliot. And that's more than I ever want to know about him."

"Good. I didn't like him. Not only is he a mouth-breather who works for the IRS, he asked if we had _mineral _water. What the hell is wrong with good old-fashioned tap water? It hasn't killed us yet."

"Do you like Ranger?" She asked her dad.

I was kidding about her taking me home to 'meet the family', but that seems to be exactly what she's done.

Frank looked over at me and shrugged. "I don't mind _him _hanging around. He's better than the Italian Stallion. Ranger doesn't talk during dinner and he never touches my chair, remote, or food."

I'd have more respect for him, as a father and as a man, if he would've mentioned how I didn't touch his daughter and then tell the whole fucking city exactly how I did. Or if he noticed that I treat Stephanie like the intelligent, beautiful, caring person she is versus the Burg trophy Morelli tries to keep possession of. I don't want to upset Steph any further today by challenging her father's half-assed interest in her, so _that _will have to wait at until at least our second date.

"Ranger's definitely sticking around. And I can promise you that he'll never touch your stuff _if _we're ever here again," Stephanie said to him.

"What are you saying, Stephanie?" Helen asked.

"Oh for criminy sakes, Helen, yank your head outta your patooty," Edna told her. "Stephanie is telling you that her and hotcakes here are an item. And she's mad as the dickens at you."

"Well said, Grandma. Joe already knows, and now you do, too. Ranger and I are together. And not only will I never forgive you if you do something to try to come between us, my guy _will _retaliate ... so I don't recommend you screw with my love life again."

"_Stephanie_ ..."

"Save it, Mom. You got your wish. I'm in a serious relationship with a highly-trained, professional man who has a steady and good-paying job and doesn't live far from the Burg. He may not be _your _ideal, but he's mine. And lucky for me, he has a saint working for him who loves to cook as much as I love to eat, so I don't need any of your 'leftovers' ... whether that be meat_loaf_ or the meat_heads_ you keep trying to give me to. Now if you'll excuse us, we have someplace to be."

She curled an arm around my waist as we exited the house. "You never disappoint, Babe."

"As long as I never disappoint _you_, I'm good."

"I'm not worried about that happening. You ready to relax and enjoy the rest of our evening?"

"Yup. I want you to wine me, dine me, then do me."

I can never say no to anything she asks of me.


End file.
